


The Heart Wants What It Wants, Even If It Isn't Mine At The Moment

by awareoftheconcept



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bodyswap, First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic, Near Death Experiences, Oblivious Derek, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-18 23:02:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4723538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awareoftheconcept/pseuds/awareoftheconcept
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Derek is on his way back home, he runs across an old friend, Sarah. While helping her, Derek is attacked by Marcus, a warlock who created a poison that uses a supernatural creature's own magic to kill them. They escape the first attack, but Derek was poisoned. The only way to save him is to remove every piece of magic in his body. Unfortunately, that means Derek is now stuck sharing a body with Sarah. </p><p>Will Sarah and Derek be able to cure Derek before Marcus returns? Or will Marcus kill the both of them once he finds them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Even when Stiles doesn't know it is Derek, he still loves him."

Derek was driving on a deserted highway somewhere in Arizona. He had been away from home for the past two weeks and all he wanted was to get home, eat something that wasn’t fast food, and take a hot shower.

He was humming along to a song on the radio when he felt something ghost over his skin. The touch felt like a warm wind, somehow familiar. But before Derek could place the feeling, it disappeared.

Derek was on alert, slowing the car down as he kept an eye out for anything unusual. As he was reaching over to lower the volume on the radio, there was a loud crack in the air and a bright light. Derek slammed on the brakes, swerving to avoid the woman that had appeared in the middle of the road.

Derek quickly pulled the car over and jumped out as he cautiously made his way over to where the woman was. She was on her hands and knees, coughing violently as she tried to take in shaky breaths.

As Derek got closer, he noticed that she was dressed in jeans and a hoodie, both of which were covered in dirt. Her long, blonde hair was matted with sweat and there were bruises all along her neck and forearms. A heavy scent of magic was in the air that was getting thicker the closer Derek got to her. Once again, Derek got the overwhelming feeling that the scent was familiar.

Derek, not wanting to startle her, quietly said, “Are you okay?”

The woman jumped up, spinning around with her arms raised in a defensive position, clearly preparing for an attack. She was a couple inches shorter than Derek and she swayed slightly as she turned, showing Derek that she was in no condition to put up a fight. But, as soon as she saw Derek, her eyes widened and her arms fell limply to her side. “Holy shit,” she said. “Derek?”

As soon as he heard her voice, Derek realized why she seemed so familiar. He took a step forward. “Sarah?”

Sarah’s eyes filled with fear as she shook her head. “Derek, it’s not safe.”

Derek took another step forward. “What are you-”

“You need to get away from me!” Sarah yelled, taking a step back. “Run!”

“Sarah-”

But Sarah wasn’t listening. She spun around as she tried to run away. She was clearly injured though and her feet tangled beneath her as she fell to the ground.

Derek ran over to where she had fallen, grateful that she had only passed out from what seemed like exhaustion. Not knowing what else to do, he carefully picked Sarah up and put her in the backseat of the car.

_‘Oh Sarah,’_ Derek thought to himself as he climbed into the driver’s seat. _‘What did you get yourself into this time?’_


	2. Chapter 2

Derek was pacing around the motel room, his phone in his hand as he explained the situation to Scott.

“So that’s all she said?” Scott asked. “Run?”

“Pretty much,” Derek answered with a sigh, raking his hand through his hair. “She told me it wasn’t safe and that I needed to run.”

“Where are you now?”

“In a motel in southwest Arizona,” he said. “I figured Sarah would want a shower and some food when she woke up.”

There was a pause on the other side of the phone. “How exactly do you know her again?” Scott asked.

“We knew each other a long time ago,” Derek said. “About a year after we left Beacon Hills, Laura decided I needed to finish high school. That’s where I met Sarah. Her father was the Emissary of the local pack and, after finding out we were living on our own, he invited us to move in with them.”

“How long did you stay?” Scott asked.

“Almost two years. It is the longest me and Laura lived in one place, but she was determined to try and give me a “normal” high school experience,” Derek smiled. “And I did. Or as normal as can be when you are a werewolf and your best friend is a witch. After we graduated, we tried to stay in touch. But Sarah left for training and I just…left.” Derek hesitated. “Listen Scott, I know that we don’t know what she is running from or even why, but I would-”

“Do you trust her?” Scott interrupted.

“I-” Derek said, taken aback by the question. He looked over at Sarah, who was still fast asleep on one of the beds. Derek wasn’t stupid, he knows that people can change and this may not be the same Sarah he went to high school with.

But he remembered the look of fear in Sarah’s eyes as she recognized him, as she tried to run so he wouldn’t be dragged into whatever mess she was dealing with.

Derek nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I trust her.”

“Then I’ll call everyone else, let them know what is going on. We can meet up at-”

“Look out!” Sarah suddenly shouted.

“Wha-” Derek said, turning around just in time to get tackled to the ground, causing the phone to go flying. Just as they hit the ground, the window Derek had been standing in front of exploded inwards.

He quickly rolled over, trying to shield Sarah from the majority of the shattered glass that fell. Derek shook his head as his ears rang from the small explosion.

Derek scrambled to stand up, trying to figure out what had just happened. There was a large piece of glass sticking out of his forearm that Derek pulled out, the wound already starting to heal. But Sarah was groaning as he reached down to pull her up, her hands and face covered in small cuts.

“We need to get out of here,” Derek said.

Sarah nodded, struggling to her feet. They started heading for the front door when, from the other side of the room, they heard laughter. Sarah froze.

“Marcus,” she whispered.

“Enlisting help again, Sarah?” the man, Marcus, asked as he propped himself against the back wall. “I thought you would have learned after what happened to Shauna.”

Derek moved himself between Sarah and Marcus, his eyes glowing as he barred his fangs.

“Ooh, but this one is a werewolf,” Marcus said as he leaned forward. “How interesting.”

“Derek,” Sarah choked out. “Run. Just leave me.”

Derek ignored her, continuing his stare down with Marcus.

“Marcus,” Sarah said, switching her attention to the intruder. “Please. He has nothing to do with this. Just let him go.”

“Fine,” Marcus said, rolling his eyes. “If he leaves right now, I will let him live.”

Derek didn’t move.

“Do you even know what you are getting yourself into?” Marcus asked him. “Your friend here has made herself an enemy of the High Wardens. She killed her mentor and a fellow apprentice-”

“ _You_ killed them, you piece of shit!” Sarah yelled, Derek putting his hand out as she took a step forward.

“-and I have been tasked with bringing her back through any means necessary,” Marcus finished, as if Sarah hadn’t interrupted him at all. “If you leave now, I won’t kill you. But if you stay…” Marcus snapped his fingers as the second window in the room exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere.

But Derek didn’t even flinch.

“See, that’s the problem with you wolves. You’re always so…loyal,” Marcus said, spitting the last word out in disgust as he pulled out a dagger.

Derek growled, taking a step back as he smelled something putrid coming from the blade.

 “Interesting scent,” Marcus said as he noticed what had drawn Derek’s attention. “Isn’t it?”

“What is it?” Derek questioned, his instincts telling him to get as far away as possible.

“Simply put, it’s a poison that I created. A very powerful poison. When it enters the bloodstream, it attacks the magic in someone’s body, turning it against them in the most painful way. I haven’t had the chance to test it on a werewolf though.” He eyes gleamed as he smiled at Derek. “Would you like to be the first?”

Without pause, Marcus lunged at them.

Derek grabbed Sarah and rolled out of the way, landing a couple feet back from Marcus.

Derek was strong, but he had to worry about keeping Sarah safe and keeping out of reach of the dagger, not to mention the fact that Marcus kept sending things flying his way every chance he got. He ducked and dodged every single attack, jumping over the beds to avoid Marcus’ swipes, and ducking under the large table to avoid getting hit by a lamp.

There wasn’t a lot of space in the motel room in the first place, so fighting defensively was proving more and more difficult. Derek knew that he had to be quicker if he stood any chance of attacking Marcus. In the blink of an eye Derek shifted into his full wolf form, making him faster and more agile than he was in just his beta form.

Marcus stopped. “Now that is a handy trick,” Marcus said with a wicked glint in his eye. “It’s not every day you come across a werewolf who can do that.”

Derek leapt at Marcus, clawing a shallow, but long cut across his chest. He gave Derek a crazed grin as he thumbed his dagger’s handle, giving no mind to the wound on his chest.

“Fascinating,” he breathed out.

Marcus and Derek continued their fight. Marcus was fast, but Derek was faster and had more energy. The strain of the fight was starting to take its toll on Marcus, his heart beating rapidly as his lungs tried to take in more oxygen. So Marcus did the only thing he could do at the moment: he sent Derek flying through the window.

Derek landed hard on the pavement outside, shifting back into his beta form so he could get back into the room. But as Derek crawled through, he saw Marcus kicking down the bathroom door, which was where Sarah had barricaded herself.

Derek could see she had armed herself with the shower rod and was using it as a lance to keep Marcus back. But she was exhausted, and was quickly losing the ability to stop him from coming through the door. Derek quietly made his way through the room in an attempt to catch Marcus by surprise but right as Derek was coming in behind him, Marcus turned around, using Derek’s own momentum to driving the dagger into his stomach.

Derek howled, grabbing hold of Marcus’ arm and throwing him as far as he could. Marcus hit the wall hard, sinking to the ground.

Derek pulled the dagger out, groaning as he noticed the wound wasn’t healing. He collapsed, pain starting to erupt through his entire body as he heard Sarah yelling his name.

“Derek!” Sarah yelled. “Oh my God! You’re not healing! We need to get you out of here. We need to-”

Derek was having a hard time focusing, his vision blurring as he saw Sarah yelling at him. She had both of her hands on the side of his head, her eyes closed in concentration.

“-need to think of home, Derek! I need you to think of somewhere safe! Just get a clear picture in your head and I will be able to-”


	3. Chapter 3

Derek heard a loud crack in the air as he hit the ground. Luckily he had landed on a soft, plush carpet that smelled like-

“What the hell is- Oh my god,” Stiles said. “Derek?!”

***

Derek woke up, everything around him in a haze. He was having trouble breathing so he tried to sit up but hands pushed him back down, a familiar voice telling him he needed to stay still.

“Derek, please, just calm down,” Stiles whispered next to him. “You’re going to be fine…You’re going to be fine…You’re going to be-”

Derek blacked out again.

***

A sharp pain in Derek’s chest made him scream out.

“-looks like it was a knife but the wound isn’t healing,” Scott said.

“The poison,” Sarah said quietly. “It is attacking any magic that is in his body. I tried to heal him but it just made it worse.”

“Get him on the table and we can-”

***

Derek woke up to yelling in the background.

“Who even are you?” Stiles yelled.

 “Stiles,” Kira said steadily. “You need to calm down. This isn’t helping-”

“No! She needs to explain exactly what happened or I-”

***

 “-stopped the bleeding but now we need to try to find an antidote,” Derek heard Lydia say in the background. “But we don’t even know what the knife was coated with. You both said that Marcus created the poison himself? Well then it could take days, weeks even to figure out what he used but by then it would be too late.”

“I have an idea,” Sarah said. “It may be a bit risky, but this is the only way to keep Derek alive until we figure out how to cure him.”

“What did you have in mind?” Lydia asked.

***

Derek drifted back to consciousness sluggishly, blinking his eyes as he tried to adjust. He was lying on the ground in one of the examination rooms at Scott’s clinic, surrounded by broken pieces of glass and cotton swabs. He sat up, groaning as he felt exhaustion throughout his entire body. He ran his hands down his face, pausing as he noticed the lack of stubble.

_“_ Weird,” Derek said out loud, confused by how odd his voice sounded.

He slowly brought himself to a standing position, bracing himself against the wall so he wouldn’t collapse.

_‘Oh thank god,’_ Sarah said.

“Sarah?” Derek asked, looking around as he tried to figure out where she was.

_‘Derek I need you to trust me right now.’_

He spun around. She sounded close, almost like she was-

Derek stopped, his eyes catching her face from the other side of the room. But as he took a step forward, she mimicked his movement. He scrunched up his eyes and tilted his head, only for her to do the exact same thing.

His heart started to pound as he realized what he was staring at: a mirror.

Derek slowly made his way across the room and leaned in close to the mirror, bringing his hand up to his face; feeling the soft features that were now his cheekbones; combing his fingers through the long hair that was falling in his face, pulling on his ears that were embellished with earrings. Derek squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take deep breaths.

Out of the corner of his eye, Derek saw someone on the other side of the room. He shakily walked over, afraid of what he was going to find. Lying on a table, hooked up to an IV, covered in bandages, and taking slow, deep breaths, was his body.

“What the hell?” Derek said in a small voice.

_‘Derek,’_ he could hear Sarah say calmly. _‘Don’t freak out.’_

Derek tried. He really tried not to freak out. But he was staring at what was essentially his own corpse. The anxiety he was feeling was overwhelming.

Derek tried to recede into his body, reaching for his wolf that had always been there to steady his nerves. But the moment he reached out with his subconscious, he recoiled.

It felt wrong. This body felt wrong.

Derek’s hands started to shake as bursts of electricity started pulsing up and down his arms. He braced his hands on the counter that was in front of him, everything on the shelf flying to the floor.

_‘Derek, you need to calm down or you are going to hurt us with my magic.’_

“Sarah,” Derek hissed out, turning back to look at the mirror. “What the hell is going on?”

He could feel the magic that was coursing through his body, well, technically it was Sarah’s body, and it felt so foreign to him. He tried fighting against it, but it made the counter shake even more. He kept digging through the magic until, like the burst of a bubble, he felt his wolf.

But instead of calming him down, his wolf started fighting. Derek began to shift, his claws digging holes into the counter.

“I can’t control it,” Derek whispered, his panic increasing. “Sarah, what do I do?”

_‘Holy shit! Derek, you need to let me take back control,’_ Sarah said.

“How?” Derek gasped out.

_‘I don’t know, just.’_ Sarah said. ‘ _Try taking deep, calming breaths.’_

Derek took in a deep breath, holding it for a couple of seconds before letting it out. He did that a couple more times, listening to Sarah count to four over and over again.

_‘Good. Now, just, try and relax. Don’t try to fight me on this.’_ Sarah said. _‘Okay, you’re doing great. Now, this is going to feel weird. Just remember to keep relaxing.’_

Derek suddenly felt a subtle push, like he was on an elevator that was going a bit faster than normal. He could still feel everything that was happening around him, but he had no control over it. Instead of panicking like he thought he would, Derek felt relief rush over him.

“Okay,” Sarah said, out loud this time, letting out a big breath. “At least we know it worked.”

_‘What worked?’_ Derek asked. _‘What is going on?’_

“Short answer?” Sarah asked. “Right, well. Short answer, we are sharing the same body.”

_‘Yeah, I kind of figured that out,’_ Derek said, wishing he could roll his eyes. ‘Why _are we sharing a body?’_

“Well, I…” Sarah said, turning to the mirror so Derek could actually see her. “What is the last thing you remember?”

_‘I don’t know,’_ Derek said. _‘Bits and pieces. I remember the fight with Marcus, I remember he stabbed me, and then…I was with Stiles?’_ Sarah nodded. _‘I could hear him fighting with you, and I know Lydia and Scott were there at some point. You guys were discussing how to cure me?’_

“Right, okay, so you got a lot more than I thought you would have,” Sarah said with a nod. “That poison that Marcus has, it is something he created on his own. Meaning none of us know what exactly you were poisoned with, let alone what we can do to cure you.”

Sarah’s eyes had drifted to Derek’s body as she was talking. _‘So what did you do?’_

“The only thing I could do,” Sarah said. “Marcus said the poison attacks the magic in the body, right? So my thought was, if we separate your wolf from your body the poison won’t have anything to attack. This would give us time to find out how to create an antidote. It was the perfect plan.”

_‘But?’_ Derek asked.

“But…,” Sarah said. “The only way to separate your wolf was to transfer it to another body. My body. And your wolf was _not_ happy about that. My original plan was to only remove your wolf so you could still be in your own body, but your wolf fought me the entire time. I couldn’t control my magic and your wolf at the same time, just like you couldn’t when you first woke up. It almost destroyed me, and I almost demolished this room. So I had to take your conscious as well. Hence why we are sharing a body.”

_‘Is there any way for us to put me in my body without my wolf?’_ Derek asked.

“Right, well the poison in your body right now is dormant,” Sarah said. “But any attempt at putting you back in your body, with or without your wolf, is going to trigger the poison and we will be back to square one. We have to wait to find an antidote and then we can put you back. It looks like you’re stuck with me,” Sarah said with a nervous laugh as Derek’s silence became uncomfortable. “Derek, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into this. I should have-”

_‘You gave me the chance to leave and I didn’t,’_ Derek interrupted.

“Yeah, but-”

_‘You’re my friend and I couldn’t just let that guy kill,’_ Derek said. _‘This isn’t your fault.’_

“Yeah, well, try telling that to your pack,” Sarah said meekly, hanging her head. “Especially Stiles.”

_‘Where are they now?’_ he asked.

“In the front room. I asked them to wait outside because I didn’t know exactly how the spell was going to go and I couldn’t afford any distractions,” she said. “I soundproofed the room as well.”

_‘Why did you soundproof the room?’_

“Like I said, I didn’t know how the spell was going to go,” she said quietly.

_‘So what do we do now?’_ Derek said. ‘ _How exactly are we going to explain this to everyone?’_

“Derek,” Sarah hesitated. “I know you have already risked your life for me, and your pack is doing the same, but I have a huge favor to ask.”

_‘Which is?’_

“I don’t think we should tell your pack everything.”

_‘What?’_ Derek said. _‘Why?’_

“Your wolf,” Sarah started to explain, pausing as she tried to find the right words. “It’s like a battery to my magic. This last week has drained me to the point where me teleporting here could have killed us. I need time to heal.”

_‘So why can’t we tell my pack? It’s not like they are going to force you to return me to my body.’_

“Your wolf isn’t just healing me,” Sarah said, shaking her head. “My magic is the strongest it has ever been. If Marcus were to find out about that-”  

_‘He would what?’_ Derek said. _‘Try to kill you? Because last I checked he was already trying to do that.’_

“Marcus is going to hunt me down and he is going to find me, no matter what we do. But he is going to expect me to be broken and beat down, exhausted to the point where I won’t be able to fight him. If I could just-”

_‘I won’t lie to them,’_ Derek stated.

“We won’t be lying. I will tell them that you are still alive. I will explain to them that the spell I performed puts your body into a stable position which will give us the time needed to find an antidote,” Sarah said. “But I can’t risk Marcus finding out about my increased strength.”

_‘You can trust my pack,’_ Derek said.

“Marcus is an expert at gathering information. The more people that know, the higher chance Marcus will find out,” Sarah said. “This isn’t about trust Derek, this is about security.”

Derek didn’t say anything.

“Please Derek,” Sarah pleaded. “This is the only edge we have over Marcus.”

The arguing went on for a couple more minutes. But the more Sarah argued, the more she wore Derek down.

_‘I…fine,’_ Derek conceded. _‘But you are going to explain everything else to them. Who you are, who Marcus is, why you are running-’_

“I will,” Sarah nodded gratefully. “I have already told them a little bit, but I will fully explain what happened. You all deserve to know.” Sarah paused, looking in the mirror. “Look, I know you aren’t happy about this, but it is going to work out and we will have you back to your own body in no time!”

_‘You are a lot more confident about this than I am,_ ’ Derek sighed.

“We’ll be fine,” she said, flashing the mirror a smile. “Now let’s get out there and convince your pack!”


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Sarah and Derek opened the door, Sarah’s spell broke so they could hear Stiles arguing loudly with Scott.

_‘Wait,’_ Derek said, knowing that walking into the room would make the situation worse.

“-and then she kicks us out of the room, doing who knows what on Derek for, how long has it been now? An hour? I don’t think we should help her,” Stiles said. “Derek is dying in there because of her and you want to jump even _further_ into her drama?”

“Derek said he trusts her,” Scott said.

“Yeah,” Stiles snapped. “And look where that got him.”

“I know you are angry about what happened to Derek,” Scott said. “We all are. But Marcus was the one who attacked Derek, not Sarah. She didn’t mean to drag us into this fight, but we are a part of it now.”

“How do we even know what she has told us so far is true?” Stiles countered.

“What are you getting at Stiles?” Lydia asked.

“How do we know she isn’t working with Marcus? How do we know she isn’t here for Scott? She told us that Marcus was power hungry,” Stiles stated angrily. “And what would help him gain power faster than killing a True Alpha?”

“So, what?” Malia said. “You think she is doing surveillance on us before he gets here and kills us all?”

“Well how else do you explain how she was able to teleport here?”

There was a confused silence in the room.

“Seriously? Do none of you understand how teleportation spells work?” Stiles said, met with silence once again. “The spell caster can either send their magic out as a scout to nearby locations, or they have to have a clear picture in their mind. That motel they were in was over 800 miles away, not to mention the fact that Derek told Scott they met _after_ he left Beacon Hills. Yet she was able to perfectly teleport straight into my living room? I think it is safe to assume that she had a _clear picture in her mind!”_

“Actually,” Sarah said, walking into the room despite Derek’s protests. “There are quite a few different ways to teleport. Those are only two of the more basic spells.”

Everyone looked over as Sarah entered the room, some with guilty faces for having been caught talking about her. Stiles’ glare was sharp.

“And now she is listening in on our conversations,” Stiles said scathingly. “You know who does that? Bad people.”

“Stiles,” Lydia scolded.

“Where is Derek?” Stiles heatedly asked Sarah. “Is he still alive?”

“He is alive,” Sarah said, putting her hands up as everyone went to enter the room. “But I had to put him in a coma until we can find an antidote to the cure.”

“But he is still alive?” Kira asked with a relieved look on her face.

“For now,” Sarah said with a warm smile.

“So not only did you not save him, he is now in a state of suspended animation,” Stiles said, the relief of Derek still being alive overtaken by his anger again. “And you still want to help her?” he directed at Scott.

“I know you guys don’t trust me,” Sarah said. “But is there anything I can do to show you that I am truly here to help?” Sarah asked.

“Well, Stiles did bring up a good argument,” Scott said. “You can start by explaining how exactly you were able to teleport here.”

“Right, of course, I can do that,” Sarah said confidently. “After Marcus stabbed Derek, I started to panic. He was bleeding heavily and nothing I was doing was helping. I needed to get us somewhere safe, and quick. But I was exhausted and knew that, without a clear destination in my mind, teleportation would be extremely risky. I had two options,” Sarah explained. “Either teleport without an exact destination in mind and hope for the best, like I did when I found Derek the first time. Or do something that was even more dangerous.”

“Which was?” Scott asked.

“Well, with enough practice it is possible to grab a destination from someone else’s mind. Since I knew the best bet would be to just get Derek home, I told him that we needed to get somewhere safe. That he needed to focus on that place and not get distracted.” She turned to Stiles with a smile. “It’s a good thing he loves you so much or we might have overshot our destination by hundreds of miles.”

A heavy silence fell over the room as everyone froze.

“What?” Stiles whispered, all of the anger disappearing from his voice.

Sarah looked around the room, confused by everyone’s reaction. Derek was silent in her head, unable to form words as he watched the train wreck occur in front of him.

“Well,” she said carefully. “When someone else is giving directions to the spell caster, the coordinates can get a little fuzzy; this is why it is so dangerous. If they get distracted for even a second you could end up in the middle of the ocean. But he was thinking of you so strongly that I was able to teleport to you with no trouble.”

The silence in the room was deafening. Everyone had turned to look at Stiles, waiting to see how he would react.

Stiles’ face became hard, all of his rage coming back as he stood up.

“We’re just pack,” he said coldly as he walked out of the room. The front door slammed shut a couple seconds later, causing everyone in the room to flinch.

“I…I’m so sorry,” Sarah said out loud, although it was mainly directed at Derek. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to presume I just…”

But Derek had already stopped listening by then. He was unprepared for how painful it was to hear those words coming out of Stiles’ mouth with a steady heartbeat to back it up. He could feel his own heart aching painfully, even though it was several feet away in the other room.

Before he had come back to Beacon Hills and became a part of the McCall Pack, Derek had only really been able to call one place home, which was when he lived with Sarah and her father. But even then, he had left that place as soon as he could.

So when Derek was accepted into the McCall Pack, he was wary at first. He wanted to believe he had finally found a family again, but past experience had made Derek wary of expecting too much.

Which is why Derek never told anyone he was in love with Stiles.

It all boiled down to fear of rejection, from both Stiles and the Pack. Derek never really knew what his place was, but he did know that it was far below Stiles. Stiles was the pack member everyone turned to for support and Derek was…damaged. He knew Scott would never approve of him dating his best friend, so he always kept quiet.

Still, in those weak moments where Derek had imagined telling Stiles everything, he always thought he would have had some semblance of control over the situation; that _he_ would be the one telling Stiles he was in love with him.

Yet here they all were, sitting in Scott’s veterinary clinic while a complete stranger bared Derek’s soul to the entire pack in one casual sentence.

Derek could hear the buzz of talking from everyone else, but he wasn’t listening.

That feeling he had when Sarah had taken back control of her body was there again. Except this time Derek felt like the elevator cable had been cut and he was plummeting down, further and further.


	5. Chapter 5

Derek heard his name being said softly as his subconscious came back to the surface. He didn’t know how long it had been since Stiles had stormed out of the clinic but, as he was able to see through Sarah’s eyes, they weren’t even in the clinic anymore but his loft.

“Listen Derek, I-”

_'Why are we here?’_ Derek asked, cutting off Sarah’s apology.

“I…umm…Right, well I explained to them what was happening and we all agreed to get some rest tonight. Tomorrow we will start getting prepared for Marcus and trying to figure out how to create an antidote for the poison. Scott told me your loft is practically the pack’s headquarters because of the defenses you have put up, so he brought me over here,” Sarah explained.

_‘Where is everyone?’_

“Lydia said she would come over as soon as she could with some spare clothes and textbooks to start researching. Scott, Kira, and Malia went to the station to let the Sheriff and, Parrish I think his name was, know what was going on. Liam had to go back home to get some things but he should be back in a little bit. Let’s see…I don’t know exactly where Stiles is.” Derek felt the twinge in his heart again. “Oh, and I think Scott went back to his clinic so he could bring your body back here, so hey! At least you and your body get to sleep in your own home,” Sarah said optimistically.

Derek was silent, too tired from everything that had happened that day to come up with a response.

Sarah, unwilling to let Derek slip away again, kept talking. “Now, as I’m sure you are aware, our body is very hungry. Please tell me you have something to eat,” she said, her stomach growling as if trying to agree.

That got a chuckle out of Derek. _‘Unfortunately no,_ ’ he said. _‘I have been gone for the past two weeks so we will need to go shopping.’_

“Please tell me there is fast food nearby,” she said. “I can’t wait.

_‘Yeah,’_ Derek said. _‘There is a restaurant off of Gildencrest Boulevard that has really good -’_

“How about you be in control?” Sarah said. “You know your way around this town better than me. Plus, it will give us a chance to get used to sharing my body.”

She didn’t even wait for Derek to answer before she forced his subconscious to the front.

“Huh,” Derek said, shaking his arms and tensing his muscles.

_‘What?’_

“This isn’t as strange as I thought it would be,” he explained. “I’m fully aware of the fact that this isn’t my body, but at the same time I already know all of its limitations.”

_‘Kind of like when you wear formal clothes when you usually wear jeans and a t-shirt?’_ Sarah offered.

“Yeah, that explains it pretty well,” Derek said with a sigh.

Sarah’s stomach growled again.

“Well…burgers?” Derek asked with a laugh.

_‘Burgers.’_


	6. Chapter 6

_‘You know,’_ Derek said, having given control back to Sarah so she could eat since he wasn’t really in the mood. ‘ _I never did get to hear exactly who Marcus is and why he is chasing you.’_

All of the energy Sarah had gotten from the meal seemed to immediately dissipate. She put down her burger and wiped the grease from her hands. “I don’t really know where to start,” Sarah said.

_‘Start with what happened after high school,’_ Derek offered.

“Well,” Sarah said. “I traveled around the country for a little while. It wasn’t until about three years ago that I came across the High Wardens.”

_‘So who exactly are the High Wardens?’_ Derek asked. _‘And why do they sound so pompous?’_

“It’s such a stupid name,” Sarah said as she shook her head. “They are a group of powerful magic users. They live in a small village but routinely send out scouts to try and find new talent to bring in and train.”

_‘And they found you?’_

“Yeah, about three years ago. I had been living with a pack in Colorado at the time, working as an apprentice to their emissary. There was a local pack war and one of the mercenaries my pack brought in was a scout. He immediately recruited me and I have been with them ever since.” Sarah smiled. “I loved it there. My mentor, Everett, was a kind man, loved by everyone in the village. No matter what their problem was, whether it was a leg injury or a routine prenatal checkup, Everett would help.”

Derek could feel the tears forming in Sarah’s eyes as she spoke. “But about two weeks ago, Everett passed away. The official diagnosis was that he suffered a heart attack while he was alone in his house. But something about his death seemed strange to me. I asked for permission to examine his body and, after much pleading, I was given permission.”

“But the thorough examination I performed resulted in the same conclusion. I went back to my room and told Shauna, my fellow apprentice, what I had found. I remember her nodding sadly, bringing up how Everett had always joked his magic was the only thing keeping his heart beating at his age. And that’s when it hit me,” Sarah said. “There was _no way_ Everett’s heart could have suffered a heart attack. He had taken _every_ magical precaution he could to keep his heart beating like it did before he developed coronary heart disease, so why would his heart fail all of a sudden?”

_‘Marcus?’_ Derek guessed somberly.

“Exactly,” Sarah said, snapping her finger. “Marcus has always been an asshole, walking around like he was above everyone else. He was always fighting with Everett, telling him that he was wasting his magic on mundane spells and that Everett wasn’t worthy of the power he had been granted. So, with a motive and nothing else, I confronted Marcus.”

_‘What did he do?’_

“He laughed in my face. He told me exactly what he had done; how he had created a new type of poison; how he had been testing it for the past couple of months on people he was supposed to be recruiting; how he used it to _steal_ their magic,” Sarah said as she clenched her fists.

_‘To steal their magic?’_ Derek asked. _‘How does the poison steal their magic? And why didn’t it steal mine?’_

“The poison doesn’t steal the magic on its own, it just puts Marcus in a position to take it from them. You can give your magic to another person, but it has to be done willingly,” Sarah explained.

_‘Is that why my wolf attacked you?’_ Derek asked. _‘Because I didn’t give it to you willingly?’_

“You actually did,” Sarah said. “I guess you don’t remember it but you were semiconscious during the spell and you gave me permission. Like I said earlier, I think that having both my magic and your wolf was just too much for me to handle. I can’t imagine what would have happened if my magic hadn’t been so drained.”

Sarah shook her head, trying to rid herself of that terrible thought. “Anyways, after Marcus poisoned someone, he would always give them a choice: either die painfully or give their magic to him. Everett chose to give his magic away.”

_‘But because of his heart-’_

“He did die of a heart attack,” Sarah said. “But it was not because of natural causes.”

_‘Sarah, I’m so sorry.’_

“Oh it gets worse,” Sarah said with a grim laugh. “As soon as he finished telling me, I ran as fast as I could. I knew that if he now had control of Everett’s magic that I wouldn’t be able to stop him on my own. I foolishly ran to Shauna, thinking that she would be able to help me.

“But Marcus had guessed that she would be who I turned to first. I arrived to find our room covered in her blood, Marcus standing in the middle without a drop on him. And he laughed,” Sarah said, anger making her voice shake. “He told me he had notified the Wardens that Everett’s death was mysterious, and that he believed I was somehow a part of it. I told him nobody would believe him but he just stood there and smiled, gesturing to the room. I remember him saying, _‘You just killed one of your fellow apprentices. Who do you think they will believe?’_ and he disappeared.”

“I ran,” Sarah said. “I know I should have stayed, should have tried to defend myself, but Marcus was right. There was no way anyone would believe me long enough to prove my innocence. And even if they did, Marcus would just kill them too.”

 Sarah stayed quiet for a long time after that.

_‘What are you going to do now?’_ Derek asked gently.

“I’m going to kill him,” Sarah said matter-of-factly. “I’m going to kill him and bring his body back to the High Wardens. I will state my case and take my punishment. But I will _not_ let him beat me! I will _not_ let him get away with this!”

‘ _You know I will help in any way I can?_ ’ Derek said supportively.

Sarah unclenched her hands, letting out a deep sigh. “You already are,” she said. “You and your whole pack.” She stood up and put the leftovers in the fridge. “Now let’s get to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow.”


	7. Chapter 7

The next week passed by a lot smoother than either Derek or Sarah could have hoped. They quickly fell into an easy routine, switching back and forth between who was in control almost seamlessly. Slowly but surely, Derek was learning about Sarah’s magic and how to control it at the same time that Sarah was learning how to work with Derek’s wolf.

Derek tried not to spend too much time in control of Sarah’s body outside of the training they did though. He felt weird being around his pack but not being able to interact with them the way he wanted to. He really only took control when Sarah went to sleep before him or when he was cooking, since Sarah didn’t know how.

_(‘Really Sarah, you can create intricate spells and potions but you can’t make a simple pancake?’  
‘Shut up Derek?’)_

And it wasn’t just going smoothly between the two of them. With Sarah’s easy charisma, everyone was quick to accept Sarah into the pack.

Scott had already decided she was one of them, treating her immediately like one of his betas. Sarah and Lydia became quick friends on their own, bonding over clothes and the occult. Kira and Liam were just kind to everyone, so Sarah didn’t have too much trouble falling into a comfortable friendship with them. Parrish enjoyed the fact that Sarah would go on morning runs with him. And Malia loved having someone else around that was as brash as she was. In fact, the only one that still treated her poorly was Stiles.

And it was killing Derek.

No matter what Sarah, and subsequently Derek, did, Stiles would only respond in frowns and condescending comments. Sarah kept trying to remind Derek that Stiles was being rude to Sarah, not him. But it made a difficult argument since Stiles was the worst when Derek was in control of Sarah’s body.

If Derek would start humming while cooking, Stiles was always there with an irritated grimace. If Derek was reading and drumming his fingers along the table, Stiles would rudely ask him to stop. Even something as simple as Derek telling Sarah to pick the pineapple bits off of her pizza and give them to Kira resulted in Stiles’ face furrowed in a scowl.

While everyone was trying their hardest to act normally, there was a void from Derek’s absence that was putting people on edge. And the tension between Stiles and Sarah was getting to be distracting to the rest of the pack. Too many times Sarah and Derek would overhear someone scolding Stiles, telling him that they all needed to work together. But the only thing those conversations accomplished was Stiles distancing himself from the pack, making him, and everyone else, more irritable.

One morning, about a week after Sarah had arrived, Derek came down the stairs in desperate need of coffee. They had been up until an ungodly hour reading through a few books Lydia had found concerning poison on supernatural creatures.

As Derek was walking into the kitchen he paused in the doorway; Stiles was sitting at the kitchen table, books strewn everywhere like they had been the night before. Stiles hair was messed up and his eyes looked unbelievably tired as they struggled to read whatever was on the page in front of him.

As Derek quietly entered the kitchen, he grabbed two mugs and started the coffee machine.

Lydia came in through the front door right about the same time the coffee was ready. She shook her head when Derek silently offered her a cup.

“Have you been here all night?” Lydia asked Stiles as she grabbed some of the notes he had made.

Stiles nodded his head, not taking his eyes off of the book in his hands.

“Do you have a shift tonight?”

Again, Stiles nodded his head.

Lydia hummed in disapproval. “You should really get some sleep before you head in,” she said. “I don’t like the thought of you carrying while you are sleep deprived.”

“I’m carrying right now,” Stiles said as he patted on gun on his hip.

Lydia pursed her lips.

With the coffee finished, Derek walked over to the table and set one of the mugs down in front of Stiles. He had made it just the way Stiles loved, including three ice cubes since he knew Stiles wouldn’t wait for it to cool down.

And, just as he thought, Stiles immediately grabbed the mug, his eyes closing as he took deep gulps. A smiled formed on his face as he turned to look at Derek.

“Thanks, I really-” he paused, his smile fading as he noticed who had given him the coffee. “You used too much sugar,” he said as he set the coffee down carelessly and pushed it away.

Sarah had been able to keep herself from yelling at Stiles because of Derek, but for some reason she couldn’t stop herself this time. She threw Derek into the passenger seat, taking back control of her body.

“What is your problem with me Stiles?” Sarah asked heatedly.

Liam and Kira quickly came in from the living room, sensing the tension and hoping to break it up before a fight erupted.

“Where to begin,” Stiles said under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear.

_‘Sarah, it’s not worth it,’_ Derek tried saying.

“I’m serious Stiles,” Sarah said, ignoring Derek. “No matter what I do, you treat me like an unwelcome stranger, even though you are the only one who has a problem with me. You won’t even take the chance to get to know me and I-”

“Get to know you?” Stiles repeated, standing up and throwing the book down hard. “I don’t want to get to know you.”

“Stiles,” Liam said quietly.

“No,” Stiles said, shaking his head.  “You are not my _friend_. You are not _my pack_. I don’t want to get to know you because I don’t _trust_ you. From day one you brought danger to each and every one of my pack, people that I care about. People that I love.” Stiles was worked up now, his hands moving around wildly as he yelled. “I hate that you have lulled everyone into a false sense of security. I hate that I know you are hiding something, but I seem to be the only one who will acknowledge it. Every little thing you do makes me hate you even more. So stop trying to bully your way in-”

Derek had listened to enough. Without a conscious thought, he took back control of Sarah’s body.

Derek’s wolf and Sarah’s magic picked up on Derek’s desperate need to get out of the conversation, causing them to teleport before Derek or Sarah could even blink.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m sorry,” Derek kept saying, as he walked in circles, trying to figure out where they had gone. They were next to a lake, standing on a bridge that was cracked beyond repair. “I didn’t mean to do that. I just-”

_‘No, Derek, it’s fine,’_ Sarah said. _‘I shouldn’t have yelled at him. It’s just…every time he said or did something rude I could feel how miserable it was making you. I really don’t like that feeling.’_

“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll get the picture this time,” Derek said, flopping onto the ground.

_‘What do you mean?’_

“Every time he was annoyed or irritated with us…those were the times that I was in control, not you,” Derek sighed. “I guess he just really cannot stand me.”

_‘Derek, I don’t think you realize-’_

“It’s fine,” Derek said quickly. “I’m fine. I just…I think we should leave him alone. I’ll stop trying to get him to like you.”

Sarah thankfully didn’t say anything, even though Derek knew she wanted to.

_‘You are getting better at controlling my magic,’_ Sarah said instead. _‘I am really impressed.’_

“My wolf is enjoying your company as well,” Derek said with a shake of his head. “I am equally impressed.”

They sat in silence for a little bit until the phone Scott had given Sarah started to ring.

Derek gave control back to Sarah as she answered the phone.

“Hey Lydia,” Sarah said cheerfully.

“I’m sorry about Stiles,” Lydia said, getting immediately to the point. “He always gets this way when someone is hurt, especially Derek.”

“No, it’s my fault,” Sarah said. “I shouldn’t have yelled at him.”

“It’s not entirely your doing. Derek was gone for two weeks before you showed up, so none of us have seen him, at least a conscious him, in three weeks. We all get a little on edge when Derek is gone, especially Stiles. He-” Lydia said, interrupted by someone on the other side of the phone. “I don’t know, I haven’t asked her yet. Where are you? You shouldn’t be alone.”

“I…umm…the woods?” Sarah said, not knowing how else to answer.

“Weird,” Lydia replied. “Do you want to meet me and Kira at the mall? I could definitely go for some shopping right now. All these old textbooks are making my head swim.”

Sarah paused, sending a questioning thought towards Derek.

_‘Do whatever you want,’_ Derek sighed.

“I’ll meet you there.”


	9. Chapter 9

Sarah and Derek were bickering as Sarah was walking through the loft, both of them in a better mood after hanging out with Lydia and Kira all day. Sarah was trying to find her charger since her phone was almost dead.

“We used it last night. Where could it have gone?” Sarah said, having looked everywhere possible in the loft.

_‘I have no idea,’_ Derek said. _‘You were the one who had it last.’_

“Don’t start that shit with me, Derek,” Sarah said. “We are literally sharing a body.”

Derek couldn’t help but laugh at that comment. _‘Just grab the spare charger from my room,’_ Derek said.

“Ugh!” Sarah whined.

_‘Did you take it out of the loft at all?’_ Derek asked.

“No,” Sarah said. “I don’t think so...”

_‘Just go into my room,’_ Derek said. _‘It’s not like I am using it at the moment.’_

“Fine,” Sarah said. “But if we can’t find it I am blaming you.”

Derek had avoided going into his bedroom; it felt weird to be in the same room as his body. In fact, the only person who regularly went into his room was Melissa, but that was just to check on his vitals. So Derek was surprised to hear a second heartbeat coming from behind the door since Melissa was currently at work. Sarah opened the door slowly, pausing as she saw who the second person in the room was: Stiles.

Derek frowned as he took in Stiles’ appearance. He was sleeping in what looked like a very uncomfortable position, his feet propped up on the bed while he sat in a chair he had dragged over. The leather jacket that Derek had kept on the chair was being used as Stiles’ blanket while Stiles’ jacket was being used as a pillow. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked tired, even as he slept. 

_‘Let’s leave. This is the first time I have seen him sleep in the past three days,’_ Derek said. Sarah started tiptoeing out of the room as quietly as she could. But something they did must have woken Stiles up because, as they reached the door, they heard a sluggish and broken “Who’s there?”

Derek tried to take control over the body, knowing that Sarah would try to talk to Stiles. But Sarah stayed strong, moving back into the room instead of out the door like Derek wanted.

“It’s Sarah,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Stiles sat up straighter. “Why are you here?”

“I was looking for my phone charger,” Sarah said, holding up her phone.

“It’s in the kitchen,” Stiles said. “You were listening to music while you cooked the other night.”

“Thanks,” Sarah said, happy that they had had a conversation that didn’t end in snide comments. She turned to walk out the door, not knowing how long her luck would hold out.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles said softly.

Sarah stopped, surprised enough to doubt what she had heard him say.

“I’m sorry I have been so rude to you,” Stiles said again, louder. “I just…”

Sarah walked back over to Stiles, and sat down on the ground next to the bed. “What can I do Stiles? What can I do to make this better? Because I don’t want you to treat me like the enemy anymore.”

Derek was trying to tell her to leave, but she shut him down. _‘No, he needs this,’_ she said. _‘I need this. And you need this too.’_

Sarah was quiet as she waited for Stiles to start talking.

“I don’t like being in here with him,” Stiles said quietly, seemingly changing the subject.

Derek internally flinched at the comment.

“Why?” Sarah asked.

“Because it feels like he isn’t actually here,” Stiles said, his hand tightening on the leather jacket. “Do you know how many times I have sat here, waiting for him to wake up?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Too many times to count,” Stiles said wearily. “So believe me when I tell you there is something different this time.”

“Different how?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know,” Stiles said shaking his head. “It’s just…different. In the past, I have always been able to see a little part of him fighting to stay alive, no matter how bad it got. But this time I can’t even see that. It doesn’t feel like he is slipping away, it feels like he is already gone.” Stiles let out a hard laugh as he shook his head. “I don’t even know why I am telling you this. Everyone else I have told has just dismissed me. Why would you be any different?”

“Well, I have been told I am a great listener,” Sarah said, trying to lighten the mood. “Maybe you’re starting to warm up to me.”

“You know, when I first met you, you literally crashed into my living room. You had Derek with you and he was bleeding badly. I had no idea who you were, but I already knew you were the reason he was hurt.”

Stiles looked over defiantly, daring Sarah to say otherwise. But Sarah only nodded her head, motioning for Stiles to continue.

“And, even after you told us what had happened, I couldn’t stand the fact that Derek was hurt once again trying to protect someone. And a lot of people agreed with me. That is, until they got to know you,” Stiles said. “It didn’t take long for everyone to be on your side, constantly telling me how _‘great you were.’_ How, if I ‘ _just spent a little time with you I would understand_.’ And I tried. Believe me, I tried to get to know you. And every time I was near you I understood why everyone had accepted you so easily into the pack.”

Stiles looked like he was struggling to find his next words.

“Do you know how sometimes when you first meet someone they remind you of a person you already know?” Stiles finally said. “Like, the way they talk might remind you of a teacher you had when you were younger or the humor they have reminds you of a friend from work?

“Yeah,” Sarah said, not really understanding where Stiles was going with this.

“Well, every time I was near you, every time I was starting to understand why everyone fell in love you with so quickly, I would catch you doing something small, something so _miniscule,_ that would remind me of Derek in the most painful way. You’re not your own person to me. For some reason I look at you and all I see is Derek.” Stiles said, looking over at Derek’s body, his voice starting to break. “I just miss him so much and it’s your fault he isn’t here right now.”

“Stiles,” Sarah said, sympathy making her voice low.

But Stiles stood up quickly, backing away towards the door and shaking his head. “I just...I have a shift later tonight. I should leave.” Stiles walked out of the room, the door shutting loudly in the silence.


	10. Chapter 10

“Whoa,” Sarah said as soon as they heard Stiles leave the loft. “That is, I mean, holy shit that boy loves you!”

_‘I-’_

“Like, he recognized that you weren’t even in your body. Hell, he was able to pick out your freaking soul in another person!”

_‘I don’t understand,’_ Derek said distractedly. _‘He said we were just pack.’_

“Yeah, probably because he thought I was trying to trick him into liking me. Which, total disclosure, I was,” Sarah said.

_‘But-’_

“He was so angry with me that first day, I thought telling him that his boyfriend loved him would make him feel better. But boy did that backfire.”

_‘There has to be another explanation,_ ’ Derek said.

“Are you sure?” Sarah said. “Because from the moment I met him, I could tell how important you are to him. And every interaction I have had with your pack has led me to believe that he goes batshit crazy every time you are hurt.”

_‘He does that with everyone,’_ Derek tried to justify.

“Maybe,” Sarah said. “But everyone, and I mean everyone, knows it is different with you.”

_‘He,’_ Derek whispered hopefully. ‘L _oves me back?’_

“Yes!” Sarah said, happy beyond belief that Derek finally figured it out.

But all of Derek’s happiness quickly soured to fear. _‘What about Scott?’_

“What about Scott?” Sarah asked. “Wait, do you think Scott is going to have a problem with you being with Stiles?”

_‘Stiles is his best friend,’_ Derek said. _‘I am just-’_

“An idiot,” Sarah said. “You’re an idiot. When Scott was driving me to the loft on the first day he asked me if what I said was true, if you really did love Stiles. I didn’t want to throw you under the bus any more than I already had, but I knew he would be able to tell if I was lying, so I said yes. And do you know what he did?” She didn’t even wait for Derek to answer. “He smiled, like it was the best news he had heard in a while. So don’t you dare sit there and think he wouldn’t be okay with it.”

Derek was silent.

Sarah shook her head. “I know you don’t want to listen to me right now, so this is the last thing I will say on this topic: as much as I hate the fact that I brought you and your pack into this fight, I am glad that it happened.”

_‘Why?’_

“Because it has forced you to realize that you are not a stranger to these people,” Sarah said. “It has forced you to see how important you are to them. I mean, how have you not yet realized that Scott and every other person in this pack thinks of you as their family?”

Sarah stood up and walked down the stairs into the kitchen, immediately finding the phone charger on the counter. She plugged in her phone and moved to the table to grab one of the textbooks, knowing that Derek needed time to work everything out on his own.


	11. Chapter 11

A couple more days passed after Stiles had spoken with Sarah. It hadn’t taken long for Derek to realize that Sarah wasn’t lying. Hell, it would have been difficult for him not to when Sarah kept pointing out all the times the pack did something that would prove her right.

But he needed to be back in his own body before he could do anything about it, so Derek and Sarah redoubled their efforts to find a cure.

There wasn’t any coffee in the kitchen so they had run out to get some. They were walking back from the convenience store around the corner. It was one of the first times they had been out alone in a while since nobody wanted to leave Sarah on her own, but nobody else was at the loft; Scott was at work at the clinic; Stiles, Parrish, and Malia were both on a shift at the police station; and Lydia, Kira, and Liam were visiting Loma Linda University for information.

Derek and Sarah were both tired, having spent the last few days in an endless swarm of papers, so they weren’t being too careful about talking to each other in public, making it seem like Sarah was talking to herself.

“So do you prefer to cook or order take out?” Sarah asked. “Because you are an amazing chef.”

Derek laughed. _‘I prefer to cook, mainly because I am such a picky eater.’_

“Ah yes,” Sarah said. “I remember. When we were living together you would never eat anything I made.”

_‘That’s because_ you _are a terrible chef,’_ Derek said.

“How dare you,” Sarah said. “I would slap you if I could.”

_‘Yeah, too bad I am technically in a coma,’_ Derek snickered.

“Right,” Sarah said. “Well I guess I just need some motivation to get you out of that coma. And that motivation can be slapping you.”

_‘Does that mean you weren’t really motivated to find a cure before?’_ Derek teased.

“I…you know what I mean!” Sarah said as she walked down the street.

“No,” a cold voice said from right behind her. “What do you mean?”

“No, no, no,” Sarah whispered as she spun around.

“Do you know how long I have waited for you to finally be alone?” Marcus said as he stepped out of the alley.

“How did you find me?” Sarah asked.

“It wasn’t too difficult after I found out the identity of your werewolf friend,” Marcus said. “Like I said, there aren’t many who can fully shift.”

_‘Dammit,’_ Derek thought to himself.

“I must say I am surprised he is still alive. I assume that was your doing?” Marcus said. “Well, it was a pointless effort. There is no cure. The only thing he can do is give me his magic, which I am very interested in.”

“You want his wolf?” Sarah asked, her eyes narrowing. “Why?”

“Were you not listening Sarah?” Marcus said rudely. “A full shift is rare. And I want it.”

“I won’t let you,” Sarah said, anger and hatred boiling her magic into a frenzy. “I won’t let you take another one of my friends.”

Sarah ran at Marcus, bashing him in the face and breaking his nose.

A look of shock crossed Marcus’ face as he fell to the ground. Just like Sarah had guessed, Marcus had been expecting her to be in a weakened state.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Sarah fell on Marcus, clawing at him and leaving long gashes on his arms. While Sarah did have Derek’s strength, she didn’t have his weight; Marcus was able to easily pick her up and throw her, slamming her into one of the surrounding buildings.

They went blow for blow for a while, Sarah getting in far more attacks using Derek’s agility. Marcus was starting to get desperate, clearly not prepared for putting up a fight against Sarah. After Sarah had sent him to the ground once again, he picked up a large rock and threw it at Sarah, hitting her in the face. Her lips split open from the blow but it quickly healed, thanks to Derek’s wolf.

Marcus watched her lip heal and cocked his head. Before Sarah or Derek could do anything, Marcus picked up a handful of dirt and threw it in Sarah’s eyes.

Sarah, blinded by the dirt, tried to step away from Marcus. But he grabbed her neck and pinned her to a wall.

Marcus leaned in and hissed in Sarah’s ear. “Looks like we have some things to discuss. Let’s take this somewhere quieter.”

And with a loud crack, Marcus, Sarah, and Derek disappeared.


	12. Chapter 12

Derek woke up in an unfamiliar room. He quickly became aware of the ropes that were binding his legs and arms to the chair, and the surrounding dried blood that was making his skin itch.

_‘Sarah?’_ he asked, trying to figure out what had happened.

_‘I’m fine,’_ Sarah said, Derek letting out a relieved sigh.

_‘Where are we?’_

_‘Marcus said we were somewhere in Maryland, so there is no chance of anyone finding us.’_

_‘Where is he?’_ Derek asked as he tried to break the ropes, but they wouldn’t budge. At least the dried blood made sense now.

“I wouldn’t try to move,” Marcus’ disembodied voice said. “Wouldn’t want to reopen those wounds.”

“I’ll heal,” Derek said.

“Yes, I suppose you will,” Marcus said, popping up beside Derek and dragging a dagger across his exposed wrist. The cut healed almost instantly. “I wondered how Sarah was able to keep you alive all this time.”

“What do you want?” Derek asked.

“You know, the answer to that question changes all the time,” Marcus said with an insane chuckle.

“I know you want Sarah dead,” Derek said. “So why not kill her when you had the chance?”

“Yes, I do want Sarah dead, but not you Derek,” Marcus said. “No, I wanted to give you a choice. But before we get ahead of ourselves, I think it is important to let you know that, no matter what you choose, Sarah will die.”

“We’ll see about that,” Derek said through clenched teeth, much to Marcus’ amusement.

“Oh she will die,” Marcus said. “It may not be today, it may not even be this week. But she will die, the _when_ only depends on you.”

“So what are my choices?” Derek bit out.

“Well, you can either die with Sarah right now, strapped to that chair while I torture and kill you both mercilessly,” Marcus said. “Or, you can go back to your own body. The only reason Sarah can’t escape those ropes is because they are soaked in wolfsbane. The moment you return to your body she could escape, giving her the chance to either run or fight.”

“If I go back to my own body the poison will kill me,” Derek said. “So no matter what I choose I die.”

Marcus shook his head. “Not true. I will give you the same option I have given everyone else in your position.”

“You’ll take my wolf?” Derek said. “Why?”

“Your wolf clearly enhances the magic of whoever is control of it,” Marcus explained. “Not to mention the healing factor.”

“You could have that power with any other werewolf,” Derek said. “Why is mine so important to you?”

“Were you not listening earlier?” Marcus said. “Your wolf has the extremely rare power of a full shift. If I combined that power with my magic, I would be able to shapeshift into any creature I wanted while still maintaining the strength of a werewolf.”

“No,” Derek said defiantly. “I’ve seen what you do with your power.”

Anger flared in Marcus’ eyes. “I’ll give you once last chance Derek.”

“No,” Derek said, staying firm.

“You want to play this game? Fine,” Marcus said. “I was offering you this choice as a courtesy, but I see you would rather spit in my face. Just remember that everything that happens now is because you refused my generosity.”

“What are you going to do?” Derek asked. “Torture me? Because I would rather die than give you my wolf.”

“Oh I won’t kill you Derek,” Marcus said. “Not yet at least. But your pack on the other hand…”

Derek’s blood ran cold as he started to jerk in the chair. “Don’t!”

“You had your chance,” Marcus sneered as he turned away. “You know, finding out that you were sharing the same body as Sarah made so many things make sense. For example, I was confused by Sarah’s sudden interest in that police officer…Stiles is his name, right?”

“Please don’t,” Derek said as wrists started to bleed from the tugging.

“And I seem to recall he has been keeping to himself a lot lately,” Marcus continued. “Guess I will start with him.”

“If you kill him, know that I will never give you my wolf,” Derek growled.

“I may want your wolf,” Marcus said. “But I don’t need it.”

“No!” Derek screamed at an empty room, Marcus having already teleported away.

“We need to get back as quick as possible,” Derek yelled at Sarah while he continued to struggle with the ropes. “If he is going after Stiles-”

_‘Derek, you need to calm down and think. There is no way we are getting out of those ropes so stop-’_

Derek stopped at that comment, interrupting Sarah as he came up with an idea. “If I return to my body would you be able to teleport back to Beacon Hills?”

_‘Yeah, but if you returned to your body the poison would-’_

Derek stopped listening to her as he started reciting the spell that would return him to his body.

_‘Derek, don’t do this,’_ Sarah tried reasoning with him. _‘We will find another way. We just need time to-’_

“We don’t have time Sarah. Every second we spend discussing this is another second Marcus has to destroy my pack.”

_‘Derek, just think about this-’_

“Are you sure you will be able to get back to Beacon Hills?” Derek asked.

_‘Yes, but-’_

“Then we can have this fight back at the loft,” Derek said, releasing the spell.


	13. Chapter 13

If the feeling of switching control between two people could be compared to being on an elevator, than the feeling of returning to your own body could be compared to a rocket. Derek slammed back into his body, gasping as he tried to take in a deep breath of air.

While the spell had kept the poison from killing Derek it hadn’t stopped it from spreading through his entire body. Derek felt like he was being pricked by thousands of hot needles.

His immediate reaction was to roll over, trying to fold in on himself to minimize the pain. But all that resulted was Derek rolling off the bed and hitting the floor. He let out a shout of pain, his arms shaking badly as he tried to stand up.

Lydia, who had already been in the room, ran to his side.

“Derek,” Lydia said. “How are you-”

“Stiles?” Derek gasped out. “Where is Stiles?”

“Scott!” Lydia shouted.

Sarah teleported into the room right as Scott burst through the door, his eyes glowing red. Parrish and Malia came in after him.

“Lydia what is- Sarah!” Scott exclaimed, only noticing her since Derek and Lydia were partially hidden by the bed. “Where have you been? We have been looking everywhere for you. Your phone was on the street outside and we thought-”

Derek started coughing violently again, blood speckling his hand.

“Derek?” Scott said questioningly, turning to see Derek huddled on the ground. Scott jumped over the bed, taking Lydia’s place as he wrapped his arm around Derek’s waist to help him up.

Noticing that Derek was breathing heavily, Scott tried to take some of his discomfort away. But as soon as Scott touched Derek, they both let out a shout of pain. Scott immediately recoiled and dropped Derek, who thankfully only fell onto the bed.

“What the hell was that?” Scott asked as his hands started trembling, his veins still colored black. He looked over at Derek. “Are you okay?”

“He is still poisoned, isn’t he?” Lydia directed at Sarah.

Sarah nodded with a clenched jaw.

“Then why the hell did you wake him up?” Lydia hissed.

“Marcus,” Derek rasped, beating Sarah to the answer. “Marcus is here. He is going to…” Derek broke down into another coughing fit. He was slowly getting used to the pain. He took a deep breath in, satisfied when it didn’t devolve into a cough. “Marcus is on his way. We need to gather everyone here since he won’t be able to break the defenses that are up.”

Everyone glanced between Derek and Sarah, trying to figure out how Derek would know all of this.

“It’s true,” Sarah confirmed.

“Where is Stiles?” Derek asked.

“He should still be on patrol,” Parrish said as he started walking out the door. “I will radio the Sheriff to let him know what is going on and to find out where Stiles is.”

“Liam should be home,” Lydia said to Scott. “You should have him pick up Melissa on his way here.”

“Give him a call,” Scott said. “Malia, can you-”

“Call Kira?” Malia said as she pulled out her phone. “I’m on it.”

Very quickly, the only ones left in the room were Derek, Sarah, and Scott.

“Scott, can you got get Derek some water?” Sarah asked softly.

“Yeah, of course.”

As soon as he left the door, Sarah threw up a soundproof spell.

“What the _hell_ were you thinking?” she yelled at Derek.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Derek retorted.

“You could have died Derek. You still could.”

“It was a risk I was willing to take.”

“Well at least let me do the spell again,” Sarah said. “I think this time your wolf won’t fight me so-”

“No,” Derek said.

“-you can stay in your body, that way, wait…did…did you just say no?”

“I have an idea on how to kill Marcus.”

“What are you going to do, fight him? While his poison is slowly killing you? You wouldn’t stand a chance!”

“I’m not going to fight him,” Derek said wearily. “I’m going to give him what he wants.”

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Sarah asked. “Because it sounded a lot like you said you were going to give Marcus, the vindictive psychopath who is trying to murder all our friends, your wolf.” When Derek didn’t correct her, Sarah started to yell again. “Are you kidding me?! What could that possibly accomplish other than giving Marcus more power?”

“Something Marcus said made me remember something you told me. You said my wolf almost killed you because it was too much power for you to handle,” Derek said, looking at Sarah for confirmation.

“Yeah, but-”

“So if I give Marcus control of my wolf, the power will be too much for him. Even if he is only distracted for a second, it would give me a chance to kill him while his defenses are down.”

“Yeah, no that’s a great plan,” Sarah said sarcastically. “Except, you’re conveniently leaving out the part where I told you I almost destroyed the entire room, and that was with only a fraction of the magic Marcus has right now. Marcus could level the entire town, or at least the cause enough damage to put you at risk. We need to-”

The door slammed open as Scott came through it, an anxious look on his face.

“We can’t get ahold of Stiles.” Derek’s heart dropped at those words. “The Sheriff said he sent Stiles out on a weird call a couple of minutes ago and now his radio is silent. He won’t answer his cell phone either.”

Derek swayed on his feet as he stood up and grabbed his jacket that now covered in Stiles’ scent. “Where was he headed?” Derek asked as he quickly made his way down the stairs, only stumbling slightly when he hit the second to last step.

Scott, unsurprised that Derek was attempting to leave after waking up from a two-week coma, answered. “The eastern entrance of the Preserve.”

“Derek, will you just stop for one second,” Sarah begged as she followed him down the stairs. “You’re not thinking clearly. We need to do something or that poison is going to-”

Derek spun around. “Did you not hear Marcus?” Derek snapped. “There is nothing to be done. This poison is going to kill me and there is nothing anybody can do to fix that.”

Lydia let out a gasp from the other side of the room, but Derek and Sarah were so engrossed in their fight they weren’t paying attention to anyone else.

“So, what? You’re just going to run into a fight with Marcus and hope for the best?” Sarah said.

“Yes,” Derek said. His hands were shaking badly as he fumbled with his shoes.

“Then I am coming with you.”

“No, you are going to stay here and protect our pack,” Derek said.

“You seriously expect me to stay here while you go and risk your life fighting a battle that is mine to begin with?”

“Yes.”

“Ugh!” Sarah screamed out. “You are as stubborn as you were back in high school!”

“Then you already know I am not going to change my mind.”

“Let’s say your plan somehow works and you come out of it unscathed,” Sarah said. “You’ll have lost your wolf. Can you honestly tell me you are okay with that?”

“I can live without my wolf,” Derek said firmly. “What I can’t live without is Stiles. Especially if I had a chance to save him and I didn’t.”

Derek froze, suddenly remembering that their fight had an audience. But as he glanced around the room, he noticed that nobody seemed particularly surprised by that statement. In fact, if the look in Scott’s eyes was anything to go by, he didn’t expect any less from Derek.

“I’m going with you,” Scott said.

“Scott-”

“Malia, you let me know if anything happens here,” Scott said, ignoring Derek’s protest. “And call me if someone manages to get ahold of Stiles.

And with that order, Scott walked out the door.


	14. Chapter 14

Scott thankfully didn’t say anything as he reached out to steady Derek for the fourth time. Derek was taking in shallow breaths, the poison making it extremely painful just to breathe. Scott’s jaw was clenched, showing his extreme frustration at not being able to ease Derek’s pain.

As Derek and Scott came across the entrance leading into the Preserve, they saw Stiles’ police jeep parked to the side of the road. The lights were off and the doors were locked, so it looked like Stiles had gotten out on foot.

“What is your plan?” Scott asked quietly, trying not to alert Marcus that they were there.

“I’m going to kill him,” Derek said.

“What do you need me to do?”

Derek looked over at Scott. “I am going to try and get Stiles away from him. And as soon as I do, you grab him and you go. Marcus’ magic is going to be out of control and you both could get hurt.”

Scott leveled his gaze on Derek. “Are you seriously asking me to leave you behind?”

“I am asking you to keep your pack safe.”

“ _You’re_ my pack,” Scott said assertively. “I’m not just going to leave you to fight Marcus on your own.”

“Yes, you are,” Derek said. “If what I do doesn’t kill him, he is going to become even stronger than before. I am not gambling your lives on my assumption.” Derek started coughing again, badly enough that he had to lean on the jeep so he wouldn’t pass out. He wiped the blood off of his mouth, feeling sharp pains in his stomach.

“How can you possibly hope to fight him the way you are right now?” Scott asked gently. “If you tell me your plan I can help. You don’t have to-”

“The only way I stand a chance against Marcus is if I don’t have to worry about you or Stiles getting hurt,” Derek said.

Scott knew Derek, so he knew this fight was going to get him nowhere. And Derek knew Scott, so he knew there was no chance he would actually do what Derek was asking. “Stay safe,” Scott said, giving Derek’s shoulder a squeeze before he disappeared into the trees. “I won’t be far.”

Derek shook his head, feeling foolish for how many years he spent thinking he wasn’t a key component in Scott’s pack. But he could think about that later. Right now, he needed to save Stiles.

***

Derek was having a hard time getting through the Preserve quietly. He was stumbling over rocks and trees, unable to keep his balance as the pain in his body kept getting worse and worse. His vision and sense of smell were dulled, so he felt like he was walking around blind. Hopefully Scott was being stealthier than he was.

_‘Screw it,’_ he thought to himself. _‘Marcus most likely already knows I’m here.’_

“Stiles!” Derek yelled. “Stiles where are you?”

“Der-” a muffled yell came from up ahead.

“Stiles!” Derek yelled as took off running in that direction. He knew he was most likely walking into a trap, but at this point he didn’t care.

It didn’t take long for Derek to stumble across a grove of trees. Stiles was on his knees, struggling against magical restraints that kept his hands tied behind his back and his mouth shut. There was a bruise forming on his upper cheek and a cut underneath his eye. Marcus was standing behind him with a knife to his throat.

“Derek! How nice to see you face-to-face,” Marcus said. “I was hoping to see you here.”

Derek walked towards them slowly, holding his hands up in surrender. “You said you want my wolf, right?” Derek said. “You can have it.”

Stiles started struggling against Marcus’ grip, shaking his head as he mumbled something that Derek couldn’t hear. Marcus knocked Stiles upside the head, causing him to shout out a stifled cry. Derek had to forcefully shut down every instinct that was telling him to just kill Marcus right then and there.

“Interesting. I remember you sang a different tune earlier,” Marcus said. Derek bent over as he started coughing up blood again. “Ah, of course,” Marcus said. “It won’t be long before the poison kills you. But I remember you telling me you would rather die than give me what I want. What changed?”

“I just want my pack safe,” Derek said. “Let Stiles go and I will give it to you willingly,” Derek said.

“You know,” Marcus said in a neutral voice as he pressed his knife into the pulse point on Stiles’ neck. “Even if you give me your wolf I won’t stop until Sarah is dead.”

“My concern is my pack,” Derek said loosely.

“Hmm. So let me get this straight,” Marcus said as he considered the proposal. “You will give me your wolf _and_ you won’t stand in my way of killing Sarah?”

Derek nodded.

“And in return you want me to leave your pack alone?”

Again, Derek nodded.

Marcus looked at him suspiciously. “How do I know you’re not trying to trick me? Maybe you are distracting me so Sarah has time to run away again.”

Derek shrugged. “Even if I was, as soon as you have my wolf you will be twice as powerful. Anyone who opposes you won’t stand a chance.”

Marcus clucked his tongue. After a couple of moments of thought, he sighed. “Fine,” he said, flinging an unbound Stiles in Derek’s direction. “We have a deal.”

Derek caught Stiles before he could fall on his face, holding him closely in what resembled a hug.

“You’re awake,” Stiles kept saying into Derek’s chest as he hugged him tightly. “Thank god you’re awake.”

“Scott is around here somewhere,” Derek whispered so Marcus couldn’t hear them. “You need to find him and then the both of you need to get as far away as possible.”

Stiles leaned back and looked Derek in the eye. “There is no way I am leaving without you,” he furiously whispered back. “So please tell me you have a plan, because I am not about to sit around and give that asshole whatever he wants. I still have my gun so and we can just-”

Derek stopped listening as he just stared at Stiles, too distracted by all of the emotions running across his face: the fear, the anger, the concern, the love.

Derek knew that this could very easily be the last chance he would have to talk to Stiles. For probably the thousandth time, Derek sat there and debated on whether to tell Stiles the truth. And for the thousandth time, Derek tried to make an argument on why keeping everything to himself was for the best.

But, as Derek watched Stiles’ eyes light up while his lips rapidly spilled words that Derek was no longer listening to, he threw caution to the wind.

Derek gently put his hand on the nape of Stiles neck, pulling him in close. He could hear Stiles breathe catch at the sudden movement, but his unasked question was answered when Stiles didn’t pull away. Derek closed his eyes as he leaned in, his lips lightly brushing Stiles’.

Without a second thought, Stiles deepened the kiss, putting everything he had into a moment that should have happened years ago.  

“How sweet,” Marcus’ mocking voice cut in, yanking them back to the present.

“Derek-”

“Find Scott,” Derek whispered as he walked past Stiles, unable to look back.

As he approached Marcus, Derek took a look at the man who had torn his life apart for the past two weeks; the man who had threatened his pack; the man who attacked Stiles! In the short amount of time it took Derek to get to Marcus, his wolf was fully raging through his body.

Marcus snapped his fingers to get Derek’s attention. “You’re almost out of time,” he said. “So let’s just cut to the chase.”

Marcus gave Derek no time to defend himself, immediately sending a jolt of magic though Derek’s body. Derek instinctively put up a fight as Marcus played cat-and-mouse with his wolf. But he needed Marcus to catch his wolf if the plan was going to work. He tried to relax, using every technique Sarah had taught him to convince his wolf to stay put. As his wolf slowed down in confusion, Marcus took the opportunity to grab it. He let out a triumphant shout as he felt the wolf transfer into his own body, but it quickly turned into a scream.

All of the pain that Derek had associated with the poison was now gone, but he was only given a moment of relief. A new kind of pain ripped through Derek as he fell to the ground, the waves of unsteady magic that were rolling off Marcus making it extremely difficult to move. It felt like every single bone in his body was going to break under the pressure.

“Scott!” Derek yelled, seeing him standing next to Stiles. “Stay back! Don’t get too close!”

“What,” Marcus wheezed. “What did you do to me?”

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked aggressively. “Is my wolf too much for you to handle?”

“Take it back,” Marcus demanded, rage making his magic even more unstable.

Derek knew he needed to get out of there, and the sooner the better. He could suddenly feel the presence of his wolf as Marcus tried to fight it off. He knew his wolf would come back to him if he would only reach out.

After only a second of hesitation, Derek started to crawl away.

“No!” Marcus yelled as he lunged at Derek. “I’m not letting you get away that easily.”

Derek, slower and weaker without his wolf, couldn’t get out of the way quick enough. Marcus landed on top of him, digging his knee into Derek’s stomach. “You thought this would kill me?” Marcus said in a rough voice as blood started dripping down his eyes and ears.

“No, but this might,” Derek heard Stiles yell from behind them, the sound of two gunshots quickly following.

Marcus looked down at his chest, uncaring eyes taking in the amount of blood now flowing freely from the wounds. He threw his hand out, sending Stiles flying backwards several feet into a tree. He sunk to the ground, his gun falling out of his hand. He leaned in close to Derek and let out a demented cackle.

“You may have saved Sarah’s life,” Marcus said as blood poured out of his mouth, the combined power of his magic and Derek’s wolf destroying him from the inside out. “Too bad you won’t be able to say the same about him.”

Marcus got off of Derek, making his way towards the tree. Scott came out of nowhere, grabbing Stiles and running as fast as he could. Marcus lifted his hands to throw another spell their way when Derek wrestled him to the ground.

Marcus flipped Derek onto his back and wrapped his hands around Derek’s throat, squeezing tightly as Derek started turning red. “I am going to kill him slowly,” Marcus breathed into Derek’s ear as Derek struggled to get out from underneath him. “I am going to make him scream. And when he begs me to stop, I am going to-”

Derek knew there was only one way to defeat Marcus.

He let out a roar and held on to Marcus, reaching out to call back his wolf. He felt the immediate punch as the poison triggered in his body again. But he also felt some of his strength return. His claws ripped through Marcus’ arms as Derek quickly switched their positions.

He could feel Marcus trying to reign in the magic he still had control of, now free of Derek’s wolf. But it was too late. Derek left Marcus no time to do anything other than gasp as he tore out his throat.

Derek rolled to the side as he heard Marcus taking wet, shallow breaths.

He closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop the poison now. He felt too hot and too cold at the same time, full body shivers sending bolts of pain along every limb while his head felt like it was going to split open.

_‘It was worth it,’_ Derek thought to himself. ‘ _Sarah is safe…the pack is safe…Stiles is…’_

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” Derek heard someone say as footsteps approached his body. “Scott! Get over here!”

Derek felt hands cupping his face. He fought to open his eyes, but, even with them wide open, he couldn’t see a thing.

“Derek, can you hear me? Please tell me you are okay.”

“Stiles,” Derek said softly. He felt like he was about to fall asleep, but he knew he didn’t have that luxury anymore.

“Derek, please stay with me,” Stiles cried.

“Stiles.”

“No!” Stiles shouted. “You’re not allowed to come back just to leave me again! You’re not allowed to leave me!”

Derek could still hear Marcus breathing, could hear a gurgling laughter coming from where he lay dying.

“I…told you,” Marcus rasped. “Wouldn’t…get…away…”

The last sound Derek heard was a gunshot ring through the air.


	15. Chapter 15

Derek woke up slowly, noticing he was back in his room at the loft. There was a hand loosely holding his own, the owner currently fast asleep in the chair next to him. Derek felt a cool touch on his chest that he recognized as a stethoscope.

“Melissa,” Derek said softly.

“Hey there,” Melissa said with a soft smile. “I’m just checking to make sure everything healed properly.”

Derek tried to sit up without waking Stiles while keeping their hands firmly clasped. He was immediately surprised by how great he felt. There was still soreness in his muscles, but there were no wounds that needed stitches and no coughs when he took in a deep breath.

“Where is everyone?” Derek whispered.

“Scott, Lydia, and Sarah are downstairs. I sent everyone else home,” Melissa answered. “Do you want me to go get Scott?”

“No, not yet,” Derek said. “Tell him I will be down in a bit.”

Melissa patted his cheek before she left. “Don’t take too long,” she said, gesturing towards Stiles.

Derek shook his head as she left, a small smile on his face.

“Stiles,” Derek said as he brought Stiles’ hand to his lips, kissing it softly as he started to wake up.

“Derek,” Stiles sighed, his eyes shooting open as he realized Derek was awake. “Derek!”

Derek laughed, the sound cutting off as Stiles jumped on top of him, peppering his face with kisses. “You…are such…an asshole!” Derek started laughing again, much to Stiles dismay. He leaned back and glared at Derek. “I’m serious Derek! I told you I had my gun, but did you listen to me? No! And what ended up saving us all? My gun!”

“Really?” Derek said. “That’s why you’re mad?”

“I’m mad about a lot of other stuff,” Stiles said. “I’m mad that you and Sarah didn’t tell me you were sharing her body.” Derek flinched, wishing that Sarah hadn’t divulged that bit of information. “I’m mad that you almost died. Again. And I am especially mad that you kissed me for the first time right before I almost lost you forever. I mean, what kind of-”

Derek grabbed Stiles hands, pulling him close again as he captured Stiles’ lips with his own. “I love you,” Derek murmured, saying the words without fear.

“I love you too,” Stiles said as he stooped down for another kiss. “Even if you are an asshole.”

Stiles settled into Derek’s side, hugging him close as Derek stroked his hair. “We should probably head downstairs,” Derek said after a couple of minutes.

“I know. Scott is probably freaking out right now,” Stiles groaned, rolling out of bed. “But we are going back to bed right afterwards. I have barely slept at all these past two weeks.”

Derek chuckled as he walked down the stairs after Stiles.

As soon as Derek’s foot hit the last step on the stairs, everyone in the room stared at him for a long time.

“What the hell happened back there?” Sarah finally blurted out. “When Stiles and Scott carried you in I thought you were dead.”

Derek shrugged. “Hey, I am as surprised as you are.”

“You are not allowed to be so nonchalant about this!” Sarah shouted. “You could have died!”

“I know,” Derek said.

“And you still have your wolf?” Sarah questioned as she stepped into Derek’s space and started examining him. “But the poison is no longer in your system? How is that possible?”

“I might know why Derek is no longer under the effects of the poison,” Lydia said, everyone turning around to look at her. “I didn’t want to say anything beforehand because it was just a theory and if I was wrong a lot of us could have been hurt.”

“What is your theory?” Scott asked.

“We spent a lot of time researching poison and its reaction with magic, but I couldn’t find any poison that had the same effects as the ones Derek was experiencing. That is, until I came across a book of curses.”

Sarah clapped her hands together. “It wasn’t poison, it was a liquid curse!” Sarah exclaimed, looking at Lydia in awe. “Of course! Why didn’t I realize it before! Marcus used his own magic to create the poison, so when he died-”

“The curse died with him,” Lydia finished, a smug smile on her face.

“So instead of tracking down dirty old books we could have been tracking down Marcus?” Stiles said with her arms crossed. “Well that’s a bummer.”

“All that matters is we are all alive,” Scott said as he smiled at Derek.

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, that is all great “So glad we figured out why he is still alive,” he said as he put his head on Derek’s shoulder. “Can we go back to bed now?”

Lydia shook her head at Stiles and turned her attention to Sarah. “So what are you going to do now?” she asked.

“You can always stay here,” Scott offered.

“I have to go back to the High Wardens,” Sarah said shaking her head. “Now that Marcus is dead I can finally state my case. Hopefully they won’t punish me too harshly.”

“Can I come with you?” Lydia asked. “I am interested to see what this place looks like. Plus, I can offer testimony about Marcus’ poison.”

 “I don’t know how long my trial will last,” Sarah warned.

“It will give me more time to study,” Lydia shrugged. “If this experience has taught me anything it is that we need a better understanding of the supernatural. And unfortunately the surrounding universities are lacking information.”

Sarah and Lydia looked over at Scott.

“You can go,” Scott said. “But only if Sarah promises to come and visit.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be difficult. I have a clear picture in my mind,” Sarah said, winking at Stiles.

Everyone laughed as Stiles rolled his eyes again. “I already apologized for how rude I was,” he said. “What more do you want from me?”

As the noise around him started back up from Stiles and Sarah playfully bickering while Scott and Lydia tried to figure out travel plans, Derek took a deep, satisfied breathe.

Even though the past two weeks had been filled with pain and misery, Derek wouldn’t change a thing. He had learned so much about not only himself but also his pack. He finally accepted that this was where he was supposed to be. This was his family. And he had never felt more at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I now have a [Tumblr](http://awareoftheconcept-fics.tumblr.com/) dedicated solely for my different fics if you are interested in following.


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